Youth Forum honoured for Second World War remembrance project

Members of the Clitheroe Youth Forum have been commended at the High Sheriff of Lancashire’s Young Citizen Awards for their World War Two Forest of Bowland Project.

The project saw the Whalley based establishment ‘We Shall Remember Them’ and the Clitheroe Youth Forum team up and dedicate a boulder at Skyes Green to the 25 airmen killed in 15 separate crashes during World War Two and early stages of the Berlin Air Lift.

The group was set up more than 10 years ago by Chairman Mel Diack MBE, who was also pivotal in starting the ‘We Shall Remember Them’ project.

Among the soldiers killed was Flying Officer Sholto Paton Marlatt, who was on a non-operational photographic flight for the Royal Canadian Air Force when he experienced poor weather conditions.

In response to the tributes paid by the two groups to Flying Officer Marlatt and the 24 others that lost their lives, a letter was sent from Gordon Campbell, High Commissioner for the Government of Canada in the UK, thanking them for their efforts.

He wrote: “On behalf of the people of Canada, I thank you for the work you have undertaken to commemorate the men who lost their lives in your locality.

“The memorial stones will be a lasting reminder of the endevours and sacrifices of these men.”